Everyone needs a pride and envy check—1
John 2:16“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world.” Of the seven deadly sins—pride, envy, anger, gluttony, sloth,
lust, and greed—pride is the worst, as most other sins proceed from the
pride that is in our heart.

We began life with an attitude
opposite to what it should be—we start with arrogance, vanity, conceit,
egotism, narcissism, self-importance, and with a high opinion of ourselves.
God wants us to be humble; unassuming; and unpretentious—like Jesus
Matthew
11:29“meek and lowly in heart.”

Everyone would like to be
prosperous, respected, and enjoying the life God has given. The path
to that is Proverbs 22:4“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches,
and honor, and life.” God’s Word is clear—Proverbs 6:16“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea,
seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood.”

We
know when we are angry, envious, or greedy. If someone points out that
we are conceited, being proud or arrogant, we just do not see it—and often
do not think of it as a fault. The world values pride and self-esteem,
but not meekness, shyness, or humility.

The Bible is clear on the sin of pride. Jesus told a parable:
Luke
18:10-14“Two men went up to the temple
to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee
stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like
other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
12
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.’

13-14, “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not
even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on
me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went
home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Pharisee does not see his arrogance or the high opinion he has of
himself; he thinks he is just being honest in dealing with others. On
the other hand, tax collectors made their money from dishonesty and by
extortion—they accumulated wealth by working for the government.

The Pharisee paid tithes and attended the synagogue, but the tax
collector probably did neither. The Pharisee had always been honest,
but not the tax collector—so we need to know how a
sinner is justified
before God. Pharisees
were honest citizens and attended church; but
tax collectors were dishonest and had no religious convictions.

The huge difference is, however, that the tax collector shows a humble
and repentant spirit; he is willing to repent; to confess his sins; and to
start over again—even though that means he will have to make restitution for
every drachma taken by fraud, plus one fifth, and he would lose his
good-paying job.

Jesus promises that anyone who gives up unscriptural employment, a
worldly friend, or anything else for His sake
Mark 10:30“He shall receive a
hundredfold now in this time”—anything we have given up for His sake,
along—“with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”
God’s reward is always well worth any temporary loss.

The sin of the Pharisee is pride of heart—something that is easily
seen in others, but easily
hidden in us. When a person brags about
something they did, what they have, or knowledge they have obtained, pride
is quickly recognized in them, but it can remain
hidden in us.

There is a self-test to determine if pride
is in our heart. Are we
upset when someone corrects us? Are we
jealous when someone else
receives the promotion or attention? Are we
offended when the boss
ignores our overtime work or rejects our suggestions?
1 Peter 2:20“When ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is
acceptable with God.”

Pride is self-importance, arrogance, conceit, and over-confidence—it is
different from self-esteem. Pride of heart always looks down on
others—it is a deadly sin that must be admitted, confessed, and repented of
before God with the help of the Holy Spirit. Pride must be removed
from our heart.

The serious part of any sin is that it separates us from God, but pride
is the worst because we often do not recognize pride or even admit it is a
sin—therefore, our separation from God remains. Pride has us thinking
only of ourselves, and forgetting that what we possess, use, or enjoy, is
because God has loaned it to us temporarily. We are only stewards of
God's gifts, and someday, we will give account of how we
used those gifts—to
glorify God, or to glorify
self.

The deadly sin of envy is linked to the deadly sin of
pride. Envy
leads to jealously—then jealously leads to resenting the one we envy.
Coveting something is feeling discontented because of someone’s possessions,
good looks, fame, ability, etc. God says
Exodus 20:17“Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor’s house,”—“nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.”

Jesus gave a parable on envy. Matthew 20:1-4“For the kingdom of
heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to
work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and
sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw
others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You
also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’”

The landowner went out at the sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour to hire
more for the agreed wage. 8-9“When evening came, the owner of the
vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The
workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a
denarius.”

Envy and jealously are revealed here—10-15,
“So when those came who were
hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also
received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble
[murmur] against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked
only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have
borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’”

They were envious of the workers who did little work, but received the
same wage. 13-15“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being
unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take
your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as
I gave you. Do I not have the right to do what I want with my own
money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’”

The parable is actually about the Kingdom of God, and not about business
on earth. God offers His kingdom to anyone who is humble, repentant,
and with all pride removed. Mark 10:31“Many that are first shall be
last; and the last first.” Love does not keep score—but envy does.
Love responds to the need of the moment—envy responds from the
pride in our
heart.

All the workers agree to a coin and receive it. The problem was not
their wage, but the comparison. They would
have been content with the
wage, if the others received less. The first sign of
envy is comparing.
Envy is never satisfied, so it grumbles and complains.

Envy and jealousy are just part of the evil nature born in everyone, and
which will eventually destroy us, if not revealed, dealt with, and
eliminated by God’s help. If we truly want envy, jealousy, and pride
taken from our heart, God has promised to do it—we just choose to let Him do
that.

We are blessed beyond measure, but Satan says: Look what you don’t have!
Envy is blind to its own gifts, but always sees the gifts of others as
more or better
than ours. Jesus said—Matthew 6:28“Consider the lilies of
the field.” If God has given such gifts to
plants, He will surely give
that much more to
us. We should have a thankful and grateful heart for
the many gifts—and for life itself.

The mother of James and John asked Jesus for special privileges for her
sons. Matthew 20:21“Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on
Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” The other
ten are jealous, envious, and resentful. Jesus hears the murmuring, so
He gives a spiritual lesson—envy must be replaced with humility.
25“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high
officials exercise authority over them,” He said.

Matthew 20:26-28“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great
among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your
slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many.”

Envy is not overcome by trying harder, but it can
be overcome when we
allow God to have our jealous heart, and we ask Him to change it to a
grateful one. When we can
see the gifts God has already given, as
clearly as we see the gifts given to others, we will begin to move from
pride to humility, and from
envy to contentment.

The apostle Paul says to love one another—not
envy one another—nor covet
their blessings. Romans 12:9,
“Love must be sincere. Hate what
is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly
love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Thinking of others above
ourselves, eliminates pride and envy.

When we give something to another, we usually give them the
old one and
keep the new one, but Jesus would give the
new one and keep the
old.
If the old item is good enough for them, then it would be good enough for
us.
Romans 12:10“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly
love, in honor giving preference to one another.”

He goes on to say: Romans 12:16“Be of the same mind toward one another.
Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not
be wise in your own opinion.” If we followed that advice, pride of
heart and envy in spirit would be gone.

Too many times we have coveted the wealth of the world—being envious of
lottery winnings; jealous of those in high-paying jobs, or complaining when
we are asked to do a menial task. We should have our
conceit changed
to contentment—we should have
envy converted to
gratitude—for all that God
has given us.

1 Peter 5:5-6“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you
up in due time.” Heaven is the greatest gift ever given, but only a
lowly heart appreciates it, and only a humble spirit receives it.